Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, July 8, 2008

At a 2 p.m., Friday ceremony, ground will be broken on a new EXTRA INNINGS indoor baseball and softball training facility on Highway 191 just west of All-Star Fence.

Franchise owner Marcus Gardner, who will be relocating to Midland-Odessa this summer from Lubbock, has a history in baseball, having coached at Lubbock's Trinity Christian High School. His father coaches at Andrews.

"I was looking to get out of teaching but I wanted to stay involved with the game" he said of the franchise, begun in Middleton, Mass. in 1996. When it came across his path, Gardner said, it seemed a great way to stay involved with the game and be part of the community.

While he looked at putting an Extra Innings facility in Lubbock, his father, local coaches and former Texas Tech players who continue to offer lessons and are involved with the sport locally said it would do very well in Midland-Odessa.

"I'm familiar with Midland-Odessa and the response was this would do really well," he said. "I'm excited."

Construction should begin next week on the 12,500 square foot facility, which should be open by mid- to late October. It will feature six 15 foot by 75 foot batting cages and a 15 foot by 40 foot training area, all of which will be situated on turf and with nets that can roll back for camps.

Extra Innings of Midland-Odessa also will offer professional instructors who will offer private and group lessons and clinics held year-round. The facility will include a 1,500 square foot fully-stocked pro shop selling baseball and softball equipment from manufacturers like Wilson/DeMarini, Rawlings, Easton, Louisville Slugger, Mizuno and Worth. The facility also can host birthday and team parties and player packages, the equivalent of a membership, will provide discounts at the pro shop, free clinics and batting cage use.

Extra Innings expects to have 50 locations throughout the country in a year's time. In Texas, locations are found in Bryan-College Station, Humble, Plano and New Braunfels.